This invention relates to a method and apparatus for excavating a tunnel, shaft, channel or the like in a rock mass or in the ground.
Heretofore, various methods and apparatus have been proposed for the excavation of tunnels.
When a tunnel is to be excavated, for instance, holes are drilled in the face of the tunnel under construction by means of, for instance, a so-called drill jumbo, explosives are inserted into the holes and is exploded, and the result is removed by a mucking device and is transported backward.
Since explosives are used in such system of excavation, noise, air pollution, and safety problem will occur unavoidably.
Recently, tunnel excavation methods utilizing more mechanized apparatus, such as shield machines or mechanical tunnel boring machines, have been developed and utilized widely. However, the shield method cannot be applied effectively in rock tunnel stratum, and the system by means of mechanical tunnel boring machine tends to be excessively high in cost and is limited in application to specific cases in the good ground condition.